Formed heel portion of shoe outsole



Nov. 26, 1957 c: w. HERBST FORMED HEEL PORTION OF SHOE OUTSOLE Filed Sept. 1, 1955 IIIJFHHI:

\IIIIIIIIIIIII INVENTOR. C142 W. HEEBJT BY AM, my MA A T TOENEYfi United States Patent FORMED HEEL PORTION OF SHOE OUTSOLE Carl W. Herbst, Milwaukee, Wis.

Application September 1, 1955, Serial No. 531,938

3 Claims. (Cl. 36-71) My invention relates to improvements in heel portions of shoe outsoles. V

More specifically stated, my invention relates to the contour construction of the heel portion of the outsole of a shoe providing an oscalsis cup where the shoe is not to be provided with a heel lift. Probably, the use of this invention is best adapted to childrens shoes for the earlier years when heel lifts are not advisable, but permanent damage to the immature foot may result from the absence of acupped portion of the heel to receive the downwardly projecting heel of the foot in the region of the oscalsis.

To carry out the invention, I mold the outsole, as to the heel portion thereof, to provide the cup above referred to and mold the outsole adjacent the side margins thereof to provide stabilizing downwardly projecting ribs. Other features of the invention will be apparent from the complete description below.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an expanded view in perspective of the upper surface of an outsole made in accord with my invention and showing the U-shaped overlay for the stabilizing ribs.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of my outsole with the overlay in position.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through a heel portion of a shoe embodying my invention, the section being taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, the upper portion of the shoe being broken away.

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the outsole only.

I-leretofore, any provision for a cupped portion of the heel of a shoe intended to accommodate the oscalsis has necessitated a skiving or other removal of outsole material and often the removal of a portion of heel lift material underlying the outsole so that a cup may be provided and possibly a deepened cup may have been filled with sponge rubber or other cushion at this zone of the shoe construction. However, the removal of leather or other material of which the outsole is made to provide the cup referred to necessarily thins the bottom sole of the cup, and if no heel lift is to be provided, an objectionable exposure of the oscalsis portion of the foot of the wearer to bruising impact would make such a shoe construction objectionable. I have, therefore, provided as shown in the drawings an outsole 10, the heel 7 portion 11 of which is shaped in a novel manner to meet the problem. To produce the contour shown in the drawings, I soften the material of which the outsole 10 ICC this purpose are heated and the resulting outsole provides permanent contours as will be understood by those skilled in this art.

The cup l2 is downwardly contoured as shown most clearly in Figs. 1 and 4 and ovoid in its marginal configuration to fit the oscalsis. The extent to which the material of the outsole is depressed at the center of the cup approaches the dimension of thickness of the outsole material. None of the material of the outsole is removed. There is merely a depression of the top surface of the outsole to the extent indicated.

Obviously a shoe made without heel lift and using the outsole thus far described would be objectionable because of the rocking action of the heel portion of the shoe upon the rounded contour of the cup, as seen in Fig. 3. I therefore, provide ribs 13 and 14 which are formed by the die simultaneously with the forming of the cup 12.

In forming the ribs in the die, the material of the outsole is thrust downwardly to provide grooves 15-16, and I fill these grooves with mastic 17.

To overlie the grooves and assist in forming a firm surface upon which the upper 18 of the shoe may rest, I provide a U-shaped, overlay strip 20, the inner edges of which are skived to a feather edge. The overlay 20 is adhesively bonded to the outsole. The lower inturned margins 21 of the upper 18 take their position upon the overlay 20, as shown in Fig. 3, and are held in position by adhesive or by sewing in any manner acceptable in shoe manufacture. A stitch line 22 through the overlay and through the outsole, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, stiflens the construction and prevents what I would call squattingfof the heel of my shoe. Finally, the insole 23 is receivable in the interior of the shoe to overlie the inturned margins 21 of the upper 18, to overlie the feather edges of the overlay 20, and to conform to the cupped configuration of the upper surface of the outsole.

From the above description, it will be seen that my shoe construction provides all of the advantages of a cupped heel zone for the oscalsis without the disadvantages of weight of heel lifts, and at the same time, I have provided maximum stability of the heel portion of the shoe since the downwardly extending ribs 13-14 prevent any rolling action upon the otherwise curved contours of the portion 12 of the outsole. It will be noted as shown most clearly in Figs. 4 and 5 that the rib 13 is somewhat more deeply (downwardly) extended at the arch portion of the sole of the shoe so that there is a general tendency to support the arch at this point.

I claim:

1. An outsole having an upper face, and a lower face exposed in position to be in contact with a supporting surface or walkway; said outsole having a heel portion the upper face of which is centrally downwardly cupped and the lower face is correspondingly centrally downwardly bulged; said upper surface of the heel portion having a groove spaced inwardly of the margins of the heel portion of the outsole and spaced outwardly of the central cup; and the lower face of the heel portion of the outsole having a downwardly projecting rib spaced inwardly of the margins of the heel portion of the outsole and spaced outwardly of the downward bulge.

2. An outsole having a heel portion with conventionally curved outer margins, said heel portion having a configuration providing an upper surface centrally downwardly cupped and a lower surface correspondingly bulged, said upper surface between the cup and said margins having an elongated groove extending in generally U-shape, and the lower surface having an elongated rib downwardly projecting corresponding to the U-shape of the groove whereby said downwardly projecting rib and References Cited in the file of this patent bulge are exposed for confact with and support by a walk- UNITED STATES PATENTS Way or other shoe supporting surface.

3. The shoe outsole of claim 2 wherein the groove in 356,890 Raymond 1887 the upper surface is filled to conform to the heel of a 5 897,920 McIntyre SePt- 1908 wearer f the Shoe 1,73 ,576 Cable Nov. 19, 1929 2,379,000 Gould June 26, 1945 

